Racy Henderson Is No Carol Brady

August 26, 1999|By Gail Shister, Knight-Ridder/Tribune.

PASADENA, Calif. — Florence Henderson is no Carol Brady.

"People think I'm nice, but they don't realize how incredibly racy and funny I can be," says Henderson, 65, co-host of NBC's new "Later Today," in an interview. "I'm pretty naughty. I try not to be, but I can't help it.

"Beneath this genteel exterior, I can sling it with the best of 'em, and we ain't talkin' hash, baby."

Though it's been 25 years since ABC's "Brady Bunch" ended its five-year smash run, Henderson in the flesh inspires nothing less than awe among the under-40 set. ("Brady," seen in six back-to-back episodes at 9 p.m. Mondays, is Nick at Nite's highest-rated show.)

Henderson says she comes by her earthy humor naturally. The youngest of 10 children, she grew up on a farm with an outhouse in Indiana.

"When we got a two-seater, it was like coming up in the world. The way I was raised, I just see things funny."

Having worked with such legends as Bob Hope, George Burns and Dean Martin, "I know how to get a laugh," Henderson says. "Sometimes I'm sure I go a little too far."

It's that unpredictability, in part, that prompted "Today" boss Jeff Zucker to make hire her. Henderson "is as saucy and silly as you'd want your best friend to be."

And at 65, to boot.

"People are always so stunned when they hear my age. They expect you to come out limping or look terrible or complain. My God, I feel 25. Having worked with George Burns, I learned that age is only a number."

Though three decades Henderson's junior, Applegate and Blake "will have to keep her in check," Blake says. "She's a little wilder than I thought."